Editorial: Let youths’ climate lawsuit proceed

Hawaii residents have a particular claim on environmental health, a constitutional claim. In fact, the state Constitution contains two separate sections affirming that natural resources are “held in trust by the State for the benefit of the people,” and that “each person has the right to a clean and healthful environment.”

It would be more than gratifying to hear the defense of those rights in court, and to see the court order any entity that’s shown to have breached those rights to be held to account. That’s what a complaint now before the state Environmental Court, filed by a group of Hawaii youth against the state Department of Transportation, is seeking.

The arguments to be brought in the case also would bring some needed light to decisions made by DOT on which transportation projects to pursue. The plaintiffs maintain — and they may be right — that the department has not done enough to implement projects that would mitigate the risks of climate change, especially by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The state agency, meanwhile, is seeking to get the case dismissed before that can happen — the reason for a hearing held Thursday before Circuit Court Environmental Judge Jeffrey Crabtree. The judge has yet to rule, but dismissal at this point would be an unfortunate loss of a rare opportunity for advocates to intervene on behalf of those with the most to lose in environmental degradation: the next generation.

The lawsuit, Navahine F v. Hawaii Department of Transportation, is being argued by attorneys for the environmental nonprofit Earthjustice and the nonprofit Our Children’s Trust, the latter a nonprofit law firm that has been pursuing similar cases around the country.

This is the first case of its kind in Hawaii, one representing the interests of Navahine F. and 13 other minors whose last names are similarly undisclosed.

According to the complaint, filed in June, the plaintiffs want “to resolve the legal controversy of whether the state transportation system is being established, maintained and operated in a manner that harms their ability to live healthful lives in Hawaii now and into the future in violation of law.”

Attorneys for the transportation department told the judge that the state is addressing climate change through emission-reduction targets that are applicable statewide, not only to the DOT, adding that the department must balance competing objectives in the public interest.

Leina‘ala Ley, the lead attorney for Earthjustice on this case, said that DOT has not followed through on numerous initiatives aimed at promoting the use of electric vehicles or transit alternatives, and instead has kept to a program of planning and constructing projects for highways that enlarge the carbon footprint of gas-powered vehicles.

“The Legislature has done well in setting goals; the agencies — particularly DOT — have fallen behind,” Ley said in an interview Monday.

The lawsuit cites a 2017 report of the Department of Health’s Hawaii Greenhouse Gas Program noting that carbon emissions are on the rise in opposition to the state’s targets, with plans for conventional highway transportation works moving ahead.

“The bottom line is that emissions are going up and up,” said Isaac Moriwake, managing attorney for the Earthjustice Mid-Pacific region. “At this stage they are not responding to the merits of this action. They’re trying to kick us out of court entirely.”

In fact, the public would best be served by the court allowing this landmark engagement of Hawaii’s youth and by having this critical policy discussion in a public setting.

The suit was filed when the previous state administration was in office. Gov. Josh Green’s team is being installed now, and it should see the making of more progress on climate-change mitigation as an imperative.